Forward Sebastian Geoffrion is a part of the Predators' development camp, hoping he shows enough to become a member of the system. / Joel Auerbach, Getty Images

by Marc Torrence, USA TODAY Sports

by Marc Torrence, USA TODAY Sports

It would be easy for Sebastian Geoffrion to feel the pressure to make an NHL team.

The Brentwood native is a fourth-generation hockey player whose lineage includes Hockey Hall of Famers Howie Morenz and Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion. And with his brother, Blake, contemplating retirement after a gruesome injury sustained in the American Hockey League, he is next in line to continue the family tradition.

"There's a little bit (of pressure) there. There's always going to be a little bit there with my last name. I think I've always had that my whole life," Sebastian said. "In the end I'm just another one of these guys. I'm no different from anyone else."

Sebastian, who turns 24 later this month, is participating in Predators development campas an invitee. He's not a member of Nashville's system, but he could be if he impresses scouts and coaches enough this week.

"It's been awesome so far, just being with all the guys," he said. "Growing up here, I've seen the first game. So getting an invite has been unbelievable so far."

Sebastian played for Alabama-Huntsville for four years. As a grinding, plug forward he didn't regularly score goals for the Chargers, but he certainly made his presence known. He averaged 63.5 penalty minutes per season in college, including 115 penalty minutes in his sophomore year.

He also appeared in nine games for the Central Hockey League's Arizona Sundogs and scored six points.

"He's all the things you like about Jordin Tootoo in terms of the physicality, the hardness," Predators coach Barry Trotz said of the former Nashville forward. "That's what you see in Sebastian."

He has been contacted by a couple of ECHL teams about playing for them next year if he can't find a spot with the Milwaukee Admirals, Nashville's AHL team.

"If anybody wants this, it's him," said his father, Danny Geoffrion, who played 111 games in the NHL. "He's a hard worker, he's a grinder."

Blake Geoffrion was selected by the Predators in the second round of the 2006 NHL Draft, making him the first Tennessean to be drafted. He played in 44 games for the Predators before they traded him to the Montreal Canadiens as part of a deal for defenseman Hal Gill.

During the lockout, Blake was playing for the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs when he took a vicious hit and his head landed on a player's skate blade. He required emergency surgery.

But neither Sebastian nor his father expressed hesitation because of Blake's injury.

"It's just a freak accident, really," Sebastian said. "It was a big hit, but big hits happen all the time. It was just unfortunate that - what are the chances that the skate blade hits him right in the head?"

Danny said the injury shows the importance of getting a college degree and having a backup plan after hockey.

"Stuff like that happens. I've never seen anything in my entire life - I don't think anybody has ever seen the severity of this injury," Danny said. "It's unbelievable what happened to Blake. ... Your life changes in 10 seconds and now you've got a story to tell."

Marc Torrence writes for The (Nashville) Tennessean, a Gannett property